Friday 24 April 2020

Over the Garden Wall

Hello Friends!

Yes, most of my contact with the outside world these days is over the garden wall, snatched chats with neighbours if we happen to be outside together.

While clearing an overgrown area the other evening, I spotted a bright yellow tennis ball.  It belonged to the little boy next door.  Two months ago I would have gently thrown it back.  Now, I called to his Mum to ask if it was okay to throw it back. How our lives have changed! She was happy so I carefully pitched it over the shrubbery.

I pondered upon this for a while, a little glimmer of what was once a normal behaviour, now changed forever.  Even when we are able to relax a little, in all likelihood Coronavirus Covid-19 will still dictate our lifestyle to us.  Unless a successful vaccine is found, like other diseases, in time it may be eradicated, but otherwise it's here for the duration.  For people with certain medical conditions {me, for example, with asthma} this means the current adaptations may be permanent. Whoa boy! Endless disinfection and hand washing.

Which got me to thinking: I hear the news channels speaking about "returning to normal", but what if you are like me and you don't want to return to that old normal, that which at the turn of the year we took for granted.  What, if like me, you can see the benefits of our situation?  The sky is bluer, the air is clearer, the silence is oh! so welcome and I am hearing birds sing, bees buzzing all day long. I am trying, arthritis permitting, to clear my garden in preparedness to grow fruit and vegetables again. If you try not to think about the dreadful and dire situation of the virus, everything else is so calm and peaceful.  As an introvert, the joy of not having to go out and socially interact is a huge relief and I am calmer and more content with my life. The planet is healing and beginning to breathe again.  She will relish this time to heal the devastating wounds we have inflicted.

I have seen a huge change in even my most basic day to day activities, and other than the endless disinfecting and cleaning processes, I am settling into the new routine well, and happily. How I cook and eat has changed; how I shop has changed; my focus on what is, and what isn't, important has changed; how much rubbish I am throwing out has decreased unbelievably {and I didn't throw that much out in the first instance}.  I don't want to go back to the normal that was before. I want this new normal, without the virus hanging over us.  If we don't all learn from this, then do we really deserve to be the custodians of the planet?

Okay, I won't go on any more about the virus, but I wanted to share my feelings. Thank you for indulging me and listening!

I am not yet happy to start walking about along the roads, but that time is coming, so for now all my photos are taken in my garden, and here's a few things currently blooming and growing in my cottage garden.

I could preface each of these with "it's my favourite flower", for I love them all!

Arum Lily in bud

Violets along a wall
Now, two Christmases ago, the first Christmas after my darling Mum died, I did not feel like doing anything to celebrate.  I did not decorate, but ended up buying a living tree which I garlanded with fruit and nuts, and birdseed, placed outside my cottage door.  The tree did not do well, and despite repotting it has not thrived.  The other day I decided to tip it out and use the giant pot it is in for something else, so imagine my delight to find it is suddenly sprouting tiny green buds all over!





Native fern

Aquilegia or Grannies' Bonnet

Libertia peregrinans or Wandering iris

offshoot! Free plants!

Aquilegia

I just adore the delicate colouring on this pansy

London Pride {I can just hear Noel Coward singing}

Pennywort or Navelwort

Native fern

Pennywort flower
There will be many pictures of flowers and probably very little else on my blog in the coming months, but with each new bloom comes a promise of hope, a promise of a future that we must not mess up. We're being given a second chance, let's not let nature, or ourselves, down.

Until next time
Deborah xoxo

23 comments:

  1. I'm loving the quiet but missing my grandchildren so much. So need it to go back to a little bit of normal

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    1. Yes, for those with loved ones to miss it is more difficult, I am sure.

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  2. Yes, I too hope and pray we have learned new ways to heal the earth during this pandemic. Mother Nature continues to teach our hearts if we listen. Your photos are joyous to my soul this afternoon. Thank you. ♥ xoxo

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    1. Thank you, dear friend! We need to focus on our gardens now, and I know how much yours means to you too. xoxo

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  3. I agree with you, Deborah! But I'm also feeling like Sue in Suffolk--missing my grandchildren. Your rejuvenating pine is a sure sign of HOPE. May we all put our hope in the God.

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. Yes, when you have loved ones to miss it is harder, and as you say, we must put our hope in God now.

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  4. The story of your Christmas tree is so heartening! I love it.

    I quite agree with you on this. I don't want the old normal either, not that I think I'll ever see it in my lifetime. For a very long while we will be careful of people, maybe extra clean. And that's a good thing. And you're right about the air as well. I want us well but I'm really pretty good with most of this. I miss the hugging a lot. And I feel a lot of sadness and anger about the state of things in my country. And for quite awhile I will feel great anxiety about the virus. And yet, I will try very hard to look at the good. Kindness, helping, awareness of our resources. And there is a lot of good.

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    1. I do miss hugging too, and wonder when we will be able to hug again. It broke my heart last night to see someone who lost two siblings and she and her parents are unable to visit, enduring this most awful of things alone. It sharpens the focus. We have a long road ahead of us, through the good and the bad, but we will surely find a way.

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  5. I'm with you, and I have to admit it is something of a relief to know there are people out there loving lockdown as much as I am. I will find it hard to retrun to 'normal' as this way od life suits me very well. I noticed the balance returning as I realised humanity has caused so much harm to the animal kingdom and this virus has come right back at us from animals to teach us all a lesson - we must learn it or be wiped from the earth. Balance and harmony and how to find them, that is the task. Stay safe and well Deb. <3

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    1. I will also find it difficult to return to the 'normality' of going out to possibly less crowded spaces than before, but will be happier when I feel safer going for walks. The stark reality is as you say, we must learn or prepare to go the way of the dinosaurs. Their nemesis was massive, ours is microscopic. D xo

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  6. How different the perspective depending on where you live. I am here in the middle of nowhere and happily ensconced in my country home and like you I couldn’t be happier, but around me the natives are grumbling. The few trips I have made to town for groceries almost makes me scratch my head, there is so much traffic. And when I go in the store gloved and masked, I am practically the only one wearing any kind of protection except for the employees. While we have had few cases of the virus and only one death I believe swift action by our mayor to shut things down saved us from what could have been a much worse situation. I wish I believed things will be different but these people will return to normal at the drop of a hat. I plan to stay right here in my happy place. Loved all your pictures of what’s growing and blooming and I love “the little tree that could”. What a nice sign of hope.

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    1. Thank you Chris, and thank goodness for a quick acting Mayor! He's probably helped save countless lives, but even one life lost is one too many. Sadly, I agree, too many will just slide back, but I hope a lot of us will be practising social distancing and protection for a long time when the lockdown is lifted.

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  7. I agree with you and you have put it all into words far better than I could :) You have some really beautiful plants in your garden and as you can imagine I particularly like the Wall Pennywort!!! No sign of any seedlings for me yet!

    I am very anxious at any thought of going out as I too suffer from asthma. So at present I am only going out into the garden.

    That is good news concerning your tree - we have a Christmas Tree in a pot and it does appear at times not to be thriving although re-potting has often helped.

    Stay safe and well and take care.

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    1. Thank you. Our asthma is a pain, isn't it? Keep the faith, those seedlings will appear, but it might take a while, depending on the germination cycle. Hopefully not too long! Treasure is waving ~~~

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  8. Unfortunately it’s not too quiet around us with neighbours using concrete mixers and hammers. Can’t wait for them to go back to work. I miss my sister although we talk on the phone or FaceTime twice a day. I also miss days out especially to our local wildlife park.

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    1. Oh, I empathise with your noise! I was the filling in a building site sandwich, major work for 10 months to either side of my cottage, and one of them is still building! At least it's respite for me for now.

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  9. Very well said, my friend. I am hoping this wake-up call will stay with us all and we will learn from it. I am amazed at the resiliency of our planet and how she is coming back to life with us staying home. May we all remember that and go out less. Out here in the country, not much has changed, but the photos I have seen of the difference in the big cities...wow!

    Loved you garden photos. just beautiful. I look forward to seeing more. I bet you will have a great veggie garden this year.

    Love and hugs,
    Darlene

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    1. Thank you my dearest friend, but I don't think the veggie garden will be very productive this year. Love, Deb xoxo

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  10. Hi Deb,
    I agree with your whole blog. Love the pansy and fiddle head! I too have asthma, mainly bronchitis . Yesterday I broke out to get some groceries!
    Thank goodness I am in a small village. We will be okay until Summer when the tourists come. It is a double edged sword economically for our county. Farming, maritime and tourism are our mainstays.
    Waving ~~~across the pond.
    🤗. Margot

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    1. Thank you, Margot. Yes, it's the same here, farming and tourism our mainstays and very badly hit now, both. Shortage of workers now to grow and harvest crops. Waving back! Deb

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  11. You are a keen observer of life and a keen photographer of nature. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your garden with us.

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    1. Thank you, Marigold, I am so happy you stopped by!

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  12. Dear Deb, Hope you are doing fine. Although I am not a member of twitter, but could see your posts. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. I hope you are doing well. I love to see your posts. As I am sequestered alone, it was something to look forward. I had the strangest mothers day ever yesterday. My son was very thoughtful and creative, and had instacart deliver chicken breasts, fancy pastries, chocolates sanitizer and toilet paper to me. They were out of flowers, but that was fine with me as I would have worried about how they would do once washed with soap and water. I look forward to driving around the area for a short time daily to get out of the house. If you would be willing to share a favorite recipe for bara brith I would love to try to make it. My great- aunt used to make it, but she never wrote down the recipe.I used to love the way she would call me Susan Bach with her beautiful Welsh accent. I hope you are doing well, and staying safe and able to see a face from afar every once in awhile. Thank you for the happiness you bring us with your posts. Love from the states, Sue

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